The A-29 Super Tucano. Photo via Flickr A cheap, lightweight attack plane from Brazil turns up in conflicts from Colombia to Afghanistan by SEBASTIEN ROBLIN Insurgents around the world will soon face a deadly new foe — an airplane which has already played a major role in helping defeat one of the... Read more

An MQ-4C Triton. Navy photo The Pentagon seeks to build Triton hangars in the United Arab Emirates by JOSEPH TREVITHICK Speed boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps zipped dangerously around a U.S. patrol boat in the Persian Gulf. This latest incident occurred during a significant uptick in confrontations between... Read more

The F-35A. U.S. Air Force photo Testing report contradicts the U.S. Air Force’s rosy pronouncements by DAN GRAZIER & MANDY SMITHBERGER The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is the most expensive procurement program in Pentagon history. It’s been plagued by schedule delays, gross cost overruns and a slew of underwhelming... Read more

Image via Vice Motherboard A sprawling bureaucracy stands between Earth and space by MEREDITH RUTLAND BAUER You’re a billionaire space company owner, and you want to take the next big step and send a spacecraft to the moon. You’ve built the rocket and bought time on a launch pad and established... Read more

Photo via the author Counting Baghdad’s Su-25s is tricky business by ARNAUD DELALANDE & BABAK TAGHVAEE A Sept. 2, 2016 analysis of satellite imagery from July seems to confirm that the Iraqi air force — the IqAF — maintains 21 Su-25 Frogfoot attack jets at Al Rashid air base. According to the website Offiziere, the space-based photo... Read more

Atlant 100. Augur RosAeroSystems art To save the economy, the Russian government entertains an airy idea by ROBERT BECKHUSEN A fleet of high-tech aerostats sail across Russia’s remote Arctic streteches, bringing resources from the north to the busy railheads farther south. An economic boom saves the economy, and because American... Read more

A Tupolev Tu-22M-3M. Alex Beltyukov photo via Wikimedia But can it master jet engines? by DAVE MAJUMDAR The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force is working on developing a new long-range strategic bomber, but there are scant details available about the project. Beijing currently relies on the Xian H-6K cruise missile carrier — which... Read more

A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache lands on the amphibious ship USS ‘New York’ in the Persian Gulf in 2012. Navy photo Apache crews train for missions in the Persian Gulf by JOSEPH TREVITHICK For two days in August, Iranian patrol boats challenged American warships in the Persian Gulf. Though the two... Read more

Antonov Airlines’ An-225. Karlis Dambrans photo via Flickr The An-225 could assist Beijing’s space program, or something else by ROBERT BECKHUSEN The Ukrainian aircraft builder Antonov, one of the most legendary Soviet-era companies, nearly went extinct following the Russian invasion of Crimea. The Kremlin, the firm’s main customer, suddenly became... Read more

The Sentinel-1A solar array before — left — and after impact, showing damage of around 40 centimeters in diameter. ESA image Tiny particle causes big damage to pricey spacecraft by VICTORIA TURK A tiny particle has smashed into a European satellite, causing visible damage on its solar array. Engineers at the European Space Agency — the ESA — realized something... Read more